1937 Flood Diary

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_ FLOOD. DIARY

SANUARY - FEBRUARY
1937.

) “COMPILED
eae: :

Marion Groh

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TIMES Pa January-February 102 ea | 4

eee os |
PLACE: 2010 East Elm Street
New Albany, Tnalana |

CHARACTERS:
Resi¢ents:?:

Edward M, Groh, father
Grace C. Groh, mother

Ade C. Groh, sister
Emme, D, Groh, Sister

Marion Groh, deughter
* Albert E. Groh, Sons :
- Absentee = Suan i
Refugees:

Louis Groh, brother
| Eve, Groh, his wife

Home -- 128 @. Spring, x ;
Clty. oa

Roger W. Murr, son-in-lew
Julia E.° Murr, daughter

Home =-— 32235 Reno Ave.,
City.

Wednesday | Jenuer ; :

a. Spring by toy

Thursday, January 21

aie He drove to ‘Jett oaay ana could
hardly get through, the water being
over the hubs of the car st the sees

pass of the Penn. R.R. and at spring end -

Tenth. It also covered Indians Avenue
as far as visible from intersection

Apring Street. The situation is denger~ ie a

ous and people are greatly alarmed, The
water is rising steadily and Teports

> ollene mach higher water,

We went to the Felis. City Transfer

al fy see albert. His car was stalled

and he had no idea whether by nightfall |

he could get home or not. (He Om

about 12 P.M. and said he had sent for
clothes and that he had no ides as to —

what he would do but not to worry. Louie
went up in the truck ie aye ace a

_ he dee dees i his work.

ae Julia and Rog had 0 move here tank
“night end brought just. a, few clothes in

‘hopes the water will be down in ‘& few cies
a, Saves eee cae ig

Kia recta ubteces Jere ond hi

q elosed st) water, Aoiles Guards celled

. ae

RAINS,

~<—F rw

tc

2 | PART Salt . nem a “2 “sear Pests , spas meer, :
rh al ~ ; - ps
{ faa 7 OPES v iy yi i! ; "
Hei, I Rs . ‘a io
. ‘ : bbe os) vie ¥ | Vy ae - bon '
, 4} 7 vert
aucun, A +740) IP ey Kiel * 1 :
i er ates > ie aT Tues x
: : ay ey ALI") aes dleae” Wael] ? «ee
‘ vai eM ry . Sea et *; y “hi
4 . a) an Mah Det ole, Fae \\eum x }
aaryhe RE ig ea ey ee crea ; ne
ews tae Sl a bat uh ct Ape 2% :
: 1 eat Gs at mr pat TSR het ie NS aaah

The water has Ee over Second

Le Strect bridge. Before or about noon
today, we got the report that the netoe
- had come over the Clarksville levee and»
aa atl of Jeff was endangered. |

Budipeca College closes et noon.

. . Water Was so high in the basement
= iw that it was im possible have. & fire.

The electricity was surned off

at 5:18 Pal and our telephone service
ee is out oe ;

=

A.

Before the el ectricity was Cre

Ee we _ heard warning on the redio the.

evervone East of East Street and south
of the alley between Spring end Elm
should evacuate immediately. This puts

\ : us Ps ont of the Aepeer ZONES.

We ees Uncle ents new Pontiac

< me : a here Ss our garage for safety.
~. Water is getting very near him end he
Se is beginning to move stock. :

un! downeor, merchants are moving

eee out of their basements. Pee

a
a " wi
: +h Ie! eas
S ms - ye Fee ton Bo 2
eee Ea
Petes iw Se S " SS,
RES te Sy
\ rst Be
. oP Hie

eae = ePisstp see bs Daw ae Foes
ETE he lin ete a epee
We fe > iT eer ay .

hs

“Marly eeurdae morning wee 4: 30

way and the water came rushing over to.

ee the levee at Gohmann's factory geve SS ve

: q ; ‘flood the whole of the East End as pre a a“ oe

- dioted by radio yesterday. We could hear

the roar as the levee gave way and the :
water came plunging over. It rushed |
ca the East End so rapidly gre oR

people who had been high : snd dry, seem—
ingly safe from any water invasion, only —
_ several hours before, were forced to.

as was. possible. Dot Neeld informed us
* phat they had nee wade ae water to.
get Out. pee hates! yore oe 3
| We had dunt Mate and Uncle oo
cars in our garage, and when the noise |
a of the people evacuating woke me ‘around —
1945, L eot up, in. doing so woke Aunt.
Emma, and between us we. roused Aunt. Ada
who went out to get the cars out of the —
garage before the water reachedus. John
Bourkenheim, our Ten gners helped her and —
after several stalls both were brought

‘the first car into the alleyx, the slley
wes dry and the water could be heard

- gbove us nearing Silver Street. By ‘the ©
time the second car was backed out the a
Sa water in the slley wes coy peeP SO fast.

‘ted

The neat a over, we wont back
bet = emokke Teter on to find ate

evacuate and salvege what little property 4

to high end dry lend. When they backed

Tet lirs 7 . / Y :
‘ = ts min tee me : Ws : s
Cn 5 rep ee ad oe .y cee

SPARE ot

Pag,

situation : is yeleiveas

‘

=: out. ‘mare. eee. er, —

inform us thet there are two and oon

ary places in all Jeff, Rose Hill and
Port Fulton, | oe ore

owspapers

‘were sonoet sour
and move to ff:

Business was

eee shetaeter

Oo move ‘to. thor aoeeae ee une
cule are taking coal eaten by See.
. atts’ Guards: Sel oor
) | B11 day.

io |
1h 4 at 3

Cae
Baia

volts 3S

— i

| hry See es ;
‘ aa oe et a fe

aa”

valle

y ans

: is
are

ey
TF.

Mien:

ay few things. We tried to stop the gover
oe to no avail. Two feet of water has -

Nets ST,
tao

SAL MAM one a, MS may
ane
7 ‘ +, Cire per

eo .. Sunday, Jamergoet a2 206

the water has come , dengereeeiy
“near he house and the sewer is pa
ares up in the basement. We worked all
morning getting up coal and salvaging —

entered during the day.

The water ae in the secana giohies

: = Reno. Sit: travel. on the K, ey Oe atk e- &

eG your own risk. Hoo ‘Street cars are ine
"operation. | | .

There is e) fens wide: at High

B saieos and at. Silver Street school as

all residents mast be inoculated ee

ae fevers

“boule oe us that ae patos:

is visible from‘his house et 2227 Ucbean o
gee :

‘Aut ma aed Uncle Lou came ae

BD tosey: They had to leave their. home by _

way of a window on the second floor end
were then boated to dry land. They _
assed under Frank Koehler's window end
e dropped his car keys into the boat —
or anes Lou could Ou his car hich

of te am 2: ;
4 shea iechied me ANS MY year * Apr rei tens ‘ i) 2

mous = managee be. ee a tov a ‘ ae |
es, and ten pounds of beef with

m. This will sure come in handy it
sings: continue as they ere ROW. i Bel =)

= “We ‘ought a stove from Richardla 2 oe a
Beecond hand store and have not yet been ae
| _ forced to light it although we have it e

set up and ready for use. We expect See
' the water to be high enough to put out
the furnace in a few hours. ‘The water >
isreported to be in the aes eae floor of. Se
ag Sey Building. — ae

“Ttfs raining oats and dogs again. .

ma water mst be purified with

se Tears are but ero ways oe of YN. " =
wi A round about way to Floyd Knobs
¥ the Monon Railroad. 7

a ‘Wilbur, left. for Louisville and | we're
heard from noe since, ee

gory

es gS

ne Up to this time all news. was mitten

ae kT ae

. ‘ = +
oe eye oa Ne S OS: at on
Sees - Monday 2 3 anuery | 2 :
: ee Me Ya - : rca ie Ta Shree: STAN = APS a a
Ty aK : = Su

S. yardstick ob ce con ae the pp es step
a5 “the stakrs on the back porch and have
“marked in red pencil;a. danger Line, the
estimated erest, and the point where, ae" 7
“reached by the water, we will have to ai =
move. According to this yardstick the oe ee:
water is. Tising at 7 Pa of about en ‘SSR
inch» sa tet Ae | &

We used the stove thie morning but | a

3

os Gis. ‘burning eels and dump: then in
“the ‘river in our backyard. eS

1. The water is up. to Gc Bonse and ae
a Revarting around it. If we have more than poe
| three feet we must move up to the sitic, =
_ However, we have unofficial word the the
river is at a standstill at Cincinnati BO.
we have hopes of Ae brs put. — ee
t

a “We oe ere fixed the wad oe
; “which by the way cost us $10, and. also
have another one in the dining” TOOMm. =
ee poreret this from Gennes.

= Bee Sande just tone in oe told
of the terrible condition at ‘the:
oe ow weer st are ‘feoding |

. es De hiser onto oak ae ie wall to
Se ret their mother, wae wes sick, out 8
| gees home. SS Oe

ne

Julie is at Loute! 8 (stoning Bogie

This morning ve. took tro ogpeules ;

: ae ee noe sed thet several houses
a on | Reno are floating around +

, 8 2 SF
Py ma

ae a

- : We can stand a. little over two toot
tore we move: to the attic.

ee Bread is being shipped in from
oT now and af we gab is eS ae

+
Wiaeis

an aa test, ‘end Soriae Streets
oon Rest Seventh bo West. Eighth Bre 2 ee
“reported to be flooded. The river ‘has long a.
pee’. met the backwater and a ereat part =

of Jeff, New a ge and Loufsville is”
. inundat ed. : |

a “The a occas thing oe an. is
Se oped poots. Just now the "beautiful
C aio" is quite middy and ugly as it en~

Savors to clinb its way up our ‘back —
jairs to reach our floor level. 3 ‘The oe
te ae in Rear Market cane above .

td from page 10) ©
, A =., he.
' £«he river is reported to be
“ta ling et Cincinnati and this along wikh
eran of sunshine now end then is very
_ Cheerful news to us who have seen enough
a _ water in the vast week to bathe a nation
Berry Sat urday night for the next Century.

~

= ok while ago there was o big launch
= a Silver and Spring which was carrying
ae B. food to the Flood sufferers. It is getting .
© to be quite a game to run to the back |
ee, " windows which face Spring St. and watch

=. all sorts of objects go flosting down the

> -alley. Row boats, canoes and motorboats |
» 0 skimming through our back yard. We have |
»* made quite a joke over the bucksaw which E
» formerlyof our back yard is now residing
Set Pritcz’s on ie Street. Evidently —

» Our iron gate, supported by boards from

m beneath, felt ‘apeueee without the buck-

— saw so it too followed suit.

. Pop broke into our own coal which
© is in the basement by going through one
» of our basement windows. We brought up
» several more buckets full and now expect
' to heve enough, The back porch looks
" like a pig pen, and we hope and pray it
hee stand the weleht on it end, not fall
peato the river.

4 By the way the average rise of an
neh en hour today is a decrease. over that
Xs of the, previous two deys which 2s near

>) e6 we could estimate was over two inches
aay per hour. News just reached us thb the

23 ezest is. expect ed. $o reach us Reoehec ay «

\

- (ont ta from pace a) cae oe ee os & i

The evel is now saa! end the rest is Sasa
expected to be 57* a rise of iat Wo
heave marked the heights on our Re ok Senay
end ere much cheered by this Rewse' The - a
water is over Elm ar Silver. We expect —s™
4% to come down Elm by Wednesday perhaps iy.
gbout Imee deep. Tonight the water ee
etgilver and Him broke. The pressure i8
ioe low and the water is fast eae aus |
Sie the streets cae

“apeting intra:

at ioe pt ied

nes Radio predicts crest at Cairo, TL va
on Wednesday. fe is a

a Tuesday, denuary 66

\ ending at 6 AM, wae Rise of oe
in 6 h OULS .— oe

‘ Reading et 6 AM. ‘vat Rise of E"
“per houite The rate of rise “erom B-2 is SS
1/6" pen hour. ‘This rise is decidedty ee:
‘Slower 4, an heretofore. = a

a The water is almost to the “front oe i
| house \ and that coming down Elm Street
is 3 ‘away. This morning . funt Ada
2, fnto the fronts yards eS
“nds absolutely still within
oe to be surrounddd. ‘ihe
gain today. and. ane un a :

w.
~

r ‘ (cont'd from page 12) a

uta and Rog think thei marriage —
je license 1s washed out on Reno. What a
“-Jengh! Welk was about to run Ouu O68

Ae fhe river is at 4 standstill at
| @incinnati.. Reading at 10 A.M. fe ee ee
: ie "in the backyard now. We just got & re~
port that the water at Louisville had
falien 1/10 im. in the last Rout.

_ the K. & I. Bridge. The sound of the
‘gushing water was equal to Niagera Falis.

| drugs but Rog received word this morning :
By ee that & National Guard truck prought them |
ee a fresh supply. | This is 2 great help.

No rise! 11:30 -- there's quite 4 carrent |

@hia afternoon we all walked across es

Houses and all sorts of objects ineluding,

= ~1 am told, a live horse, ere floating down.
a LOU cannot get get off the pridge ab the

ee Louisville end except by boat.

Rear Market. Toe sewer has backed up and.
—*' govered 15th. anc Elm in sufficient eae
quentities as to force a few people to
move out. The water down Elm Street is
in front of the house. We estimated @
|< four inch rise all day today. Crest some
time tonight. We hope and pray for feir

ee Oe Se ne ee ey,

The water has reached Vincennes at: :

weather. The water hes risen so slowly all

day that there has been no special event

\or furthur alarm. There is nothing much
-\bo do but look at gweter end sleep. We
e “play cards but the lights are bad and |
as even that becomes Darssomer os ee

_-Peceiving current from Scottsburg. How-.

it upon themselves to celebrate by play-

i. bs

~~

: heey me the rest of us BWBESs

» the street do not have lights but must
© eis to the conte of all. Bae oe ae

WLW that the river is definitely falling. | a ie

: s rough Jumpy Snyder, a fellow who lives

‘ New Albany staying at Dodsons and further
. * Gentified him as Janet's boyfriend. So
a ‘now thet this is Al and that he is

Mp sy ‘

. “2°.

. 7 Can
| at >
~

-.18 Guite e wind eT. the thermometer re-
a gisters 60° F, :

ae 14 Ss

loonie Poon page 13) |

| Transformers have been set up at. |
Bud Daleyls at Mein and Vimeennes, right |.
off this end of the bridge and we are now
ever our house and others on our side of
burn coal oil lamps and candles. In ea
bathroom we placed a coal oil stove which

10 8. M, Paul Sullivan reports over

So-00--00 Rog, Julia, Pop, and Aukt Em a
ing pinochle till 12 P.M. inet ee

Wednesday, Jaary 27

| Our par measures same as last
night. The sun is shining brightly. There ‘

his afternoon we received word ie

2. Port Fulton, that there is a man from

=

ee cry also told us that though
had no conveniences or communication
ST ies » _Were plenty of stores and aber oe